Dragons
by ANBUShizuka
Summary: It wasn't everyday that Annie went hunting and saw a dragon. But then again, it wasn't everyday that you met a dragon and still went back to your village.


Annie stopped, listening intently for any sound other than her own breathing. Each breath was controlled and soft; they curled off into the cold air, disappearing after forming snake-like whisps. Her eyes were narrowed but observant. There wasn't any snow just yet that year but she could feel it in the air. Despite how cold it was, there was a certain scent to the air that indicated an impending snowfall. Deciding that there was no quarry in this area, Annie moved on, body hunched and ready to strike, staying low to avoid becoming prey herself.

In all of her sixteen years, Annie had only ever seen dragons one way: dead. Her father was a great huntsman, often bringing back most of their meals. Her mother was a well-respected warrior in their village, often defending their home when it was threatened by outsiders. These outsiders would, on occasion, be a dragon who would land closeby and wait until nightfall to begin its encroachment on the village. She had never seen one alive.

Freezing in place, Annie held her breath, hearing another snap from the tree branches. Her head snapped in the direction of the sound and she crept along the path, sword ready. By the river, she saw a dragon with scales as black as pitch and wings that could easily span four carriages. It ducked its great head, opening its mouth and submerging its jaw in the river. Annie took pause at this, crouching behind a tree and peeking between the low branches at the creature. The dragon did not move and Annie started to grow bored. Just as she was beginning to move away, however, there was a sudden motion and the dragon's head snapped up, tossing a rather unfortunate fish up and swallowing it whole. Then, after it had eaten a couple more fish, the warrior watched in confusion and fascination as the scales began to shimmer. The wings began shrinking, drawing closer to the body.

It was with mild horror that Annie realized the dragon was taking on a different form. As it morphed, claws were replaced by hands and horns were disappearing. Black scales grew pale and soft. Before the transformation was finished though, Annie took off, bolting back to her village. The three rabbits that she had trapped would have to do. As she breached the wall of her hometown, she was met by her childhood companions.

Reiner grinned and poked at one of the rabbits. "Thought you said you were gettin' a deer this time."

"Reiner, stop it. It's hard to capture deer. Besides, she was only hunting for her family. It's not a feast night," Bertholdt reminded the blonde man. He was taller than either of his flaxen-haired compatriots and was also slightly darker in complexion. He attributed this to constantly working in the fields with his father. Turning his attention to Annie, Bertl asked, "Why so breathless? Did something happen?"

"I saw-" She was interrupted by Reiner's jaw dropping. "What?" She turned, eyes widening at the sight of a young woman- nude- stumbling along the path to the village. Her arms were crossed over her chest and as she got closer, her steps became more shaky. Turning to the two men, she snarled, "Grab a thick blanket. Fur. Something." She rushed out to the woman and asked, "Are you all right? Were you ambushed?" She saw no scars, save for one on the woman's cheek. Reiner came bounding up, holding a bearskin blanket in his hands. Quickly, he draped it over the shivering woman's body.

"What village is this?"

"Utgard," replied Annie. Her eyes widened when the woman's pale hand reached up and brought the bearskin around herself, hiding her nudity. "Where are you from?"

"The mountains. I don't...remember what happened," the woman said. She raised her head, allowing the black hair to part and reveal her face completely.

Annie felt her heart clench as she noticed the strange dots at the corner of the woman's eyes. She said nothing though, simply leading the way into the village. Bertholdt stood at the gate, dark eyes anxious. To ease his worries, Annie bid Reiner to stay behind. Alone with the woman, Annie glanced at her and murmured, "You don't look like anyone from the mountains. We have a branch of kinsmen up there."

"Oh? A different part of the mountains then." She glanced at the blonde girl, grey eyes dark and discerning. Her voice was still quiet as she said, "What name do you bear?"

Annie frowned slightly, replying, "Annie Leonhardt."

A strange smile came over the woman as they entered the lodge, startling the blonde woman at the hearth. "Annie, what-"

"She came up the path; we think she was ambushed." Annie looked at the woman and asked, "What is your name?"

"Mikasa," she replied simply. Her eyes flickered about the room, examining her surroundings in earnest. Mikasa was nearly oblivious to Annie and the older woman moving closer to one another.

"Annie, who is this girl?" Her mother's grey-blue eyes were narrowed and serious, glancing at the nude teenager in the bearskin blanket.

"She says she came from the mountains. But she doesn't look like any of the people in this land, right?" Annie glanced at Mikasa, taking note again of the dots at the corners of her eyes. From a distance- and even if one was not looking very hard- they simply appeared to be freckles. Frowning more, the teenage warrior thought back to the dragon at the river. _The dragon...The dragon had also had strange, gem-like crests_ _at the corners of its eyes_. Annie looked at her mother and said, "I'm going to give her some clothes. Here." She handed the rabbits she had bagged to her mother, offering a smile. "Dinner."

"Thank you, Annie," her mother said softly, a gentle smile on her face. She leaned in and kissed her daughter's cheek, tossing a glance at the strange girl. Without another word, she went back to the hearth, starting to make quick work of the rabbits and ready them for their meal later.

Annie promptly went to the girl, grabbing her wrist and tugging her off to the bedroom at the back of the house, saying, "C'mon. I'm gonna get you something to wear." Mikasa gave a grunt in reply and yanked back on her wrist, simply to annoy the blonde girl. Annie shoved the girl into her room, promptly closing the door after entering as well. After a moment of silence, she turned her eyes on Mikasa, taking in her stoic expression. "I saw you at the river. Those crests at your eyes. They're the same." Her voice dropped, sounding more threatening than accusatory, "You're the dragon I saw."

Mikasa felt her temper flare slightly, a warmth crawling up her throat. She said, "I don't know what you mean." Her grey eyes narrowed, shooting daggers at the girl. Her lips curled back into a snarl but the second that happened, Mikasa knew she had made a mistake.

The shorter girl leapt at the raven-haired newcomer, snatching Mikasa's wrists as she used her weight and momentum to knock her over. Mikasa grunted as her back hit the floor; Annie landed squarely on the woman's stomach, pinning her wrists to the floor. "You have fangs. No wonder you didn't speak much." Leaning in closer to examine the strange crests, Annie's blonde hair provided a curtain around their faces; Mikasa froze. "What?" The human had noticed the tensing of Mikasa's body and, while she was fully aware of their position, figured it would only spark the dragon to struggle.

"You humans are so strange." She tilted her head slightly, almost to examine Annie's features more closely. Then, looking at where Annie's hands pinned her wrists, she asked, "Would you mind letting go now? I won't run. I'm far too hungry." She smirked. "Besides, my transformation is far from perfect. I should learn the finer points of human features if I want to fit in."

"Why would you need to do that?" Despite the question, Annie loosened her grip and sat up, allowing Mikasa to sit up as well. The bearskin blanket had fallen away and the warrior found herself noting that Mikasa's skin was lightly tanned- enough to add a ruddy healthiness to her appearance. There were no freckles, no marks other than the dots beside her eyes. Two red crests beside each eye. "What are those dots for?"

Mikasa reached up and lightly brushed the ones at the corner of her left eye. "Age crests." She explained, "We age differently. I'm an adolescent and will not be full grown until I gain another two or three crests."

Annie's eyes widened marginally as she got up and went to the chest in the corner of the room, muttering, "An adolescent? You seemed large enough when I saw you at the river." Grabbing some articles from the trunk, the human girl asked, "Do you know how many years each of those crests stands for?"

"Ten years each. I got my second crest just this year. During the fourth month of snow."

"So you'll be twenty-one this coming year."

"You count your age by single years? How tiresome." Mikasa stood and asked, "And you? How many years are you?"

"I'm sixteen." Annie tossed a pair of pants and a tunic at the dragon, explaining, "Clothes. Put them on." Seeing the woman stare questioningly at the fabric, the blonde shook her head and stepped forward, grabbing the pants and saying, "You step into these and pull them up your legs. They're called leggings." Then, holding up the tunic, Annie said, "Your head goes through this big hole and your arms go through these long ones. It's a tunic." She paused for a moment before asking, "Would you like to bind your breasts? It makes it a bit easier to wear chainmail when you do."

Grey eyes blinking slowly, she nodded. "I suppose, if you say so. Why do you humans wear these soft scales though? They don't provide any protection."

"They're clothes. And they're to keep us warm during winter and protect us from getting burns during summer," Annie said. She grabbed a roll of cloth, beginning to wrap it over the other female's breasts, covering them and making Mikasa grunt quietly when she tied it off tightly. "Hurt?"

"No," Mikasa ground out. Her teeth were clenched as she spun to look at the human girl. Then, pausing a moment, she asked, "Open your mouth?"

Raising an eyebrow incredulously, Annie shook her head and sat on the bed. "Get dressed and I'll think about it." She sat quietly, watching as Mikasa struggled her way into the leggings. She smirked as Mikasa nearly toppled over. "Never balanced on two legs before?"

"Of course not," snapped Mikasa. She tugged the tunic down over head and sat down beside Annie. "Now?"

"We should get some boots for you. As a human, people will think you're out of your mind for running around in winter without covering your feet." For a moment, Annie pondered the situation and set her booted foot beside Mikasa's. "Despite being so much taller...we look to wear about the same size. Hold on a moment." She got back up and went to the trunk, digging around. After a moment, she held up a pair of boots. "Here. You can wear these until we figure out how long you're gonna be here."

Mikasa frowned but nodded her head slowly. "All right..." She stood again and grabbed the boots, looking at them curiously. "What is this made out of? The scent is strange."

"They're made out of leather. Tanned cow hide," Annie replied easily.

This brought Mikasa up short and she asked, "You don't eat it whole?"

Annie shook her head and said, "No, we don't eat it whole. Every part of it has uses. We use the skin to make clothes and other things. The bones can either be used for traps or making certain weapons. We eat the meat and some of the organs." Pausing, Annie grumbled, "I typically don't think about what I'm eating or else it would probably make me sick." She watched as Mikasa managed to pull the boots on correctly, huffing out a laugh. "Well then. That ought to be enough for now." Grabbing the bearskin blanket and throwing it over the bed, Annie said, "C'mon. We'll go for a walk and you can tell me exactly what's going on for you to take this form. And I can help you with your questions. Fair?"

As the two women left, Annie's mother called out, "Be back soon. The stew will be done before sunset." Annie nodded, giving a brief smile as she closed the door after Mikasa and herself.

[X]

They found themselves wandering along a path just outside the village- not far enough to be out of sight but far enough to be out of earshot. Annie asked, "Why can dragons turn into humans?"

"Oh, we don't. Not really. But most dragons- not all but most- have enough ability to do this transformation. It's usually taught, in great detail, to young dragons so that we're prepared," Mikasa explained softly. Then, with slightly more interest, she inquired, "Now may I see your mouth?" Before Annie could even grunt an answer, Mikasa had seized her jaw, using the thumb of her right hand to lift her upper teeth up and reveal the cavity of her mouth. "How do you eat with these? They're all so flat and small." She grinned to reveal her own sharp fangs. "Don't you tear your food at all?"

Swatting Mikasa's hand away, the shorter woman growled, "Yes, we do. In case you hadn't noticed, I have two slightly sharper teeth in my top row of teeth and also on the bottom." When the woman made another grab for her jaw, Annie snatched her wrists and snarled, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Your tongue. Stick it out, I want to see it," Mikasa said.

"What? No!" Annie paused. "You're suddenly very eager to learn these things."

"Hanji said that the best way to learn is to be enthusiastic about your human," the dragon replied, her tone very matter-of-fact.

"Who the hell is Hanji?"

"My...guardian, I suppose. My birth mother was killed shortly after I had been hatched."

Annie fell quiet for a moment and murmured, "Oh. I'm...I'm very sorry about that. Do you remember her?"

"Yes, somewhat," Mikasa replied softly, "I remember that she was very beautiful and very kind. Her voice was deep and rich and it filled our cave." She grinned- revealing her now flat teeth- and added, "I loved it when she would sing. Our humans at the time loved it too. They were all very kind to me too."

"You don't eat humans?"

Looking affronted, Mikasa retorted, "Absolutely not. We take this form so we can talk to everyone in the village and find out who has the most troubles; usually we rescue abandoned children...my mother favored taking women who had been married off to men they hated. Then, the humans come back with us to our caves and we provide protection and food and help the humans become stronger."

They sat down in the dying grass as Mikasa spoke and Annie only interrupted to say, "I had no idea."

"I answered your question. So now mine. Tongue?"

Exasperatedly, Annie groaned, "I don't know why but fine." She stuck her tongue out, glaring at the dragon-woman. After a few moments, Annie pulled her tongue back into her mouth and asked, "Why?"

"This is why," Mikasa replied simply. She stuck her own tongue out, flicking the forked end at her companion.

"_What in the name of- put your tongue back in your mouth_!" Annie's eyes widened as she scooted back from the other girl. As Mikasa laughed, returning her tongue to its rightful place, Annie found herself smiling. She quickly schooled her expression to ask, "So...how long will you stay?"

"However long it takes me to find the human I want to help." She smiled wanly. "You're already strong and resourceful. Otherwise, you're so pretty I'd want to take you with me." 'Annie snapped her head away, grumbling quietly, "Liar." A wild rush of blood colored her cheeks as she stood and extended her hand. Pulling her up, she asked, "So...maybe, during your stay, you can show me how dragons interact with their humans."

Mikasa smiled warmly at the idea, nodding. "It'd be a pleasure, Annie. But first, let me show you something. I've always been pretty gifted with plants and such. Do you...do you like flowers?" When Annie nodded slowly, Mikasa knelt again and brushed her fingers over the hard earth, murmuring in what the blonde assumed was a long-dead language. Speckles of fresh green began to dot the dead grass and a lone sprout emerged from the earth. From it blossomed a tiny purple flower which Mikasa plucked and presented to her companion. "Well?"

Taken aback at the gesture, Annie took the flower gently, peering at it curiously. "When can you show me more?" Mikasa only smiled as they headed back to the village.

[X]

Over the course of several weeks- even after the snow had fallen- Mikasa and Annie would go for walks into the forest together. Sometimes they would hunt and Mikasa simply watched in awed silence as Annie snagged a deer. That is, she was awed the first time. Then, trying it for herself, the dragon-woman managed to pick up on the activity with ease and soon had two deer of her own. Which she rather proudly presented to Annie's mother.

The woman had been extremely weary of the strange girl at first but quickly found the stoic female to be incredibly interesting. She found Mikasa to be very bright and childish if given the chance and was often very happy to praise the girl when she brought home a new catch with Annie. She also caught herself smiling when she thought of the two girls. Because, as stoic and cold as they might seem to one another, there was a certain respect between the two.

Annie's father had been much harder to impress. He was more scrutinizing and felt uncomfortable seeing his daughter pay so much attention to another woman. But he said nothing as the pair once again departed for the forest.

"Can we try that landing again?" Mikasa pleaded.

Annie looked at the dragon-woman as if she had grown two heads. "You're nearly full grown. And last time you fell on top of me. The answer is no."

"But I figured out the problem! Just hold out your arm like last time!" Mikasa proceeded to run and jump onto a nearby boulder, shifting into her dragon form much more smoothly than before. Annie stood for a moment, watching as the dragon jittered anxiously; Mikasa bobbed her head in anticipation, silently urging Annie to do as she had asked.

"You look like a dog who got told it has to wait for a treat." She sighed. "All right, fine. But don't topple me this time." With that, she raised her arm out to the side as if ready to receive a messenger bird. Mikasa leapt from the boulder, great wings flapping slowly as her clawed feet curled around the human's arm; without much effort, Mikasa was perched on Annie's arm. "Well, how'd you do that? You're too heavy!"

Jumping down and transforming back, the dragon-woman explained, "It's my muscle and organs that are so heavy. To fly, dragons have to be very light in terms of our bones. So, by using my wings as leverage, I was able to balance most of my weight and simply perch but remain ready to fly."

"Very well then. That would explain why you felt so much lighter that time."

"I do hope you're not implying that I'm obese."

Annie smirked, "Well, I didn't say that. Not in so many words."

"Annie! Mikasa!" Reiner and Bertholdt both came running into view, their faces panicked. "A dragon! There's a dragon circling the village!" They came to a halt in front of the two women, panting breathlessly and saying, "We're about to evacuate. We need help getting the elders-" Reiner paused when Mikasa took off, rushing back into the direction of the village. "What- wait! What are you doing?"

Annie wordlessly ran after the taller female, her heart pounding in her chest. "Mikasa!"

"I'm not letting anyone hurt your home!" Once Mikasa had reached the outskirts of the village, she pounced into the air, transforming into her dragon form. There were cries of panic from the villagers as they saw the second, slightly smaller, dragon take flight. Annie's blue eyes widened in fear as she looked over and saw her father standing nearby. His lip was curled in disgust.

Mikasa dove at the older dragon, letting out a mighty roar as a means to intimidate. She rammed into it's armored hide, raising her head to sink her fangs into the weak spot behind it's front leg, tearing the slightly softer skin there. Her opponent- her senior by nearly 100 years or so- bellowed in agony, whipping his spined tail around to slash at her face. It caught her just under the right eye, sending blood over her snout. Shaking her head to clear it away, she was able to narrowly miss another attack from his tail. Her enemy roared, flames beginning to grow in his throat. Her blood-colored eyes widened as she snapped at him, catching his snout in her jaws and holding on stubbornly as he slashed at her with his claws. Mikasa kept clenching her jaw, increasing the force the more he struggled. Eventually, she heard and felt a resounding snap. The older dragon batted her away with his two front legs, growling pitifully as he flew off. The younger dragon slowly sank to the ground, feeling her body weaken under the loss of blood. She was outside the village and could hear the inhabitants still panicking. That was when she heard Annie's father rally up his warriors. "Another dragon simply protecting its hunting ground! Let's go after it! While it's wounded!"

Mikasa limped away into the forest, feeling her limbs grow heavy. She found the river where Annie had first seen her and she stumbled through the water; a small force landed on her back and she raised her head tiredly to see Annie looking worried. Mikasa gave a soft growl of confusion, only getting a small hand on her cut cheek. "We need to get you out of the water. You'll only bleed out faster." She hopped off of Mikasa's back and into the water, wading through the freezing water to stand in front of her companion. "Hey, you dumb beast, c'mon. Don't you quit on me. Don't you- don't you want to see Hanji again? And your brother?"

Mikasa raised her head, nodding tiredly. She dragged herself out of the water and layed on the bank, allowing Annie to examine her ragged side. A loud, agonized roar erupted in the silence and came crashing through the forest. Annie spun, sword drawn, ready to fight the intruder. There, emerging through the trees, was an enraged brown and green dragon. It had bright yellow eyes, piercing Annie through with a stark glare. It bellowed, seeing the sword in her had, and began to strike. Mikasa held up one clawed hand and rumbled deep in her throat. The other dragon stopped short and its skin began to shimmer. Then, in minutes, there stood a man about the same height as Mikasa. His chin was covered in a faint, dark stubble and his eyes were a deep green. His tanned skin was slightly darker than the dragon-woman's and his body was muscled well. "What have you done to my sister, human?" he demanded angrily.

"So. You're Eren. Look, she got hurt fighting off this other dragon. She was protecting my village." Annie frowned. "Can you actually help her?"

"Of course I can," he snapped at the short human. He strode past her, completely unabashed by his half-nude body. He wore a simple pair of leggings that, Annie assumed, had come from his own time in a human village. Eren went to Mikasa, resting his open hand between her eyes and murmuring in that strange, rhythmic language. Slowly, her form shimmered and shrunk and a heavily injured human Mikasa lay on the banks of the river. Eren then stooped and heaved his sister into his arms, shifting her so that her head was nestled against his neck.

Annie felt a burning sensation fill her heart as she watched, knowing the feeling well. She was jealous. She had felt this way when she knew her friends had found their special people in one another. But the sensation she felt seeing Mikasa in Eren's arms was much more intense. "Ok. Now what?"

"Now? Now, I take her home so she can heal! And- Hanji!" His head snapped up, looking over at an armor-clad figure running into the clearing. Eren nodded and took off, running towards the mountains.

Annie began after him, ready to call out, only to be swept up in Hanji's arms. She blushed, outraged at being picked up in such a way, and protested, "What the hell-"

"You must be Mikasa's human! You don't look in need of- oh. Are you mates?" The dragon-person grinned wildly as they sprinted through the trees, saying, "You really shouldn't worry, you know. Everything will be all right once we get back to our caves."

As they ascended into the mountains, Annie felt herself still warm and asked, "Are all dragons this warm? I noticed that Mikasa was always running a temperature."

"Oh, yes, we're all like this. It's our inner flames. They rest in our cores and give us heat when, normally, we would be quite cold. And probably dead." They stepped lightly into a den, well hidden in the mountains. There, on the ground by a fire, Eren sat with Mikasa pulled against his chest while he covered her wounds with his own blood.

"What is he-" "Healing her. Mikasa has some regenerative power- as do all dragons. But Eren's is enhanced for some reason and his blood is able to heal wounds much faster," Hanji explained. They whispered, "Did Mikasa show you her power?"

From within the folds of her cape, Annie drew out a small handkerchief and presented the pressed violet. "I kept it since I didn't know how long she'd be around. And I didn't want to lose what she created."

Smiling a little more softly, Hanji said, "You should go to her. I can see how stubborn both of you are but I think she has something to tell you." With that, they walked away, only taking time to call over their shoulder, "Welcome home, by the way!"

Annie looked perplexed but went over to where Mikasa sat in Eren's arms. She was beginning to rouse, looking around sleepily. Her eyes caught sight of Annie and she smiled; Mikasa's ears were long and sharp, pointing well up near the top of her head and her fangs glinted in the firelight. "Hey..." she whispered weakly.

"Hey yourself, you monster." Annie smiled back weakly but set her hands in her lap, only taking Mikasa's hand when she raised it shakily. "You got yourself beat up pretty bad. Do you need me to rescue you next time?"

"Nah. I can handle myself." She paused and brought Annie's hand up to her lips, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles. "Will you stay?"

Blue eyes grew sad as she thought of her mother and her friends. But then she thought of sparring with Mikasa everyday and seeing her smile when she discovered something new about humans. And seeing her sprawl out when she slept. And she decided that home wasn't home without Mikasa. "If I can go see my mother from time to time. And Bertl and Reiner."

"Anything you wish," Mikasa agreed. She breathed out slowly, resting her head back against her brother's chest. "Eren?"

"Hm?"

"I'm hungry."

"Oh, for the love of- I'm starting to think that you're actually related to Sasha at the rate you eat when you're injured!"

Mikasa reached up and poked his cheek, grumbling with a smile. "Sasha is a great hunter and you know it. I won't hear you say a bad word about her."

Eren huffed and stood, letting Mikasa lay down completely. He said, "I'll be back in a couple minutes." And, while he said this generally, his eyes were directed at Annie. She snarled at him, getting a sneer in return.

When he had gone, Mikasa tugged Annie down and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, letting the smaller female tuck her head under the dragon-woman's chin. "Home," Mikasa murmured sleepily.

Annie simply nodded. "Home."


End file.
